I had the chance to play against Ackbar the other day for the first time, and we decided to play a big 600 point game. With my opponents 7 ships that was a lot of extra red dice! I lost my ISD2 with Tarkin on the second turn from 2 AF and 2 CR90's (I especially underestimated these things) going from full health to dead in 1 turn was definitely shocking to say the least. It was definitely a trap, but not for the rebels! Has anyone else experienced the red dice madness that is Ackbar? What is the best way to combat this as the Empire?

Curb the aggressiveness a little.

A lot of Wave 1 Imperial battle tactics has been "I'm a Goddamn Star Destroyer, I'm a Wedge Shape because I'm going to go RIGHT DOWN YOUR THROAT".

Now, if the Rebel's side is facing you, you're right where they want you to be, moreso than you want to be there.

So don't Be there.

Your Maneouver has to be more tactful. Faster moving Gladiators (demolishers) and Raiders are good at getting into Fronts and Rears... This is both the best place to be against an MC80, but also the only place that completely nullifies Ackbar.

Concentrate on Objective play, rather than sheer destruction. For a lot of Imperial Players, this may mean a robust Initiative Bid, which has thusfar been somewhat lacking.

Bombers. Ackbar does nothing for Anti-Squadron, so having a good mixed Starfighter Force will let you both tangle with Rebel Fighters and allow Bombers through to do the Initial Damage. Its entirely possible to drop Rebel Ships without taking any Anti-Ship Firepower.

Soften them up, then crush them with decisive firepower.

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

A lot of the reactions to Ackbar I feel is Knee-jerk in my opinion. He is STRONG but has some weak areas

It looks like you need a change of tactics.

If you loose an Duce in the second turn, sounds like you've just charged straight in recklessly. without much support.

In the games I've played so far, the lead ships is only in long range contact, at the earliest, in the third turn.

Perhaps holding back a little would be a better approach, until you've found out the ISD's true strength and weaknesses.

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

It's really not as great an idea as you may think.

All it takes is for the lead ship to get one yaw click and you're smack in the danger zone.

I'm a fairly capable player, and I've run up against the Ackbar Cr90 turret list at least twice. It's hard to beat. There is no easy strategy.

"Just get in front/behind" isn't particularly workable when there are 3-4 turret ships spitting AFMK2 level broadsides taking accuracies from the Home One. Charging in to close range doesn't work, since anything smaller than an ISD won't survive long enough to get a shot off.

Even using small ships to flank is insanely difficult since all of Ackbar's ships are spitting the majority of their firepower out to maximum range.

Squadrons seem to be the most effective, focusing down Ackbar himself to take away the fleet's range advantage, but even that is rendered difficult by the need for a carrier ship to move nearly into firing range, and the fact that they will almost certainly have fighter escort.

I've been waiting for this PITA of a list to hit popular play so I could watch Imperial admirals' forehead veins bulge. I look forward to the cries of "ZOMG ADMIRAL SNACKBAR IS BROKEN?!"

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

It's really not as great an idea as you may think.

All it takes is for the lead ship to get one yaw click and you're smack in the danger zone.

I'm a fairly capable player, and I've run up against the Ackbar Cr90 turret list at least twice. It's hard to beat. There is no easy strategy.

"Just get in front/behind" isn't particularly workable when there are 3-4 turret ships spitting AFMK2 level broadsides taking accuracies from the Home One. Charging in to close range doesn't work, since anything smaller than an ISD won't survive long enough to get a shot off.

Even using small ships to flank is insanely difficult since all of Ackbar's ships are spitting the majority of their firepower out to maximum range.

Squadrons seem to be the most effective, focusing down Ackbar himself to take away the fleet's range advantage, but even that is rendered difficult by the need for a carrier ship to move nearly into firing range, and the fact that they will almost certainly have fighter escort.

I've been waiting for this PITA of a list to hit popular play so I could watch Imperial admirals' forehead veins bulge. I look forward to the cries of "ZOMG ADMIRAL SNACKBAR IS BROKEN?!"

I see both sides though. . . Hmmm

I didnt mean to come across as aggressive, I was actually intending to be enthusiastic because this is a new challenge for the empire and I like to see the game change and evolve. The ISD was moving at speed 2 with a pair of VSDs and his ships at speed 3 The intent was to try and cut off his path but the rebels turned sharply and had full broad side. I understand that the goal is to get into the front or rear arc but that is especially challenging when they have ship activation advantage.

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

It's really not as great an idea as you may think.

All it takes is for the lead ship to get one yaw click and you're smack in the danger zone.

I'm a fairly capable player, and I've run up against the Ackbar Cr90 turret list at least twice. It's hard to beat. There is no easy strategy.

"Just get in front/behind" isn't particularly workable when there are 3-4 turret ships spitting AFMK2 level broadsides taking accuracies from the Home One. Charging in to close range doesn't work, since anything smaller than an ISD won't survive long enough to get a shot off.

Even using small ships to flank is insanely difficult since all of Ackbar's ships are spitting the majority of their firepower out to maximum range.

Squadrons seem to be the most effective, focusing down Ackbar himself to take away the fleet's range advantage, but even that is rendered difficult by the need for a carrier ship to move nearly into firing range, and the fact that they will almost certainly have fighter escort.

I've been waiting for this PITA of a list to hit popular play so I could watch Imperial admirals' forehead veins bulge. I look forward to the cries of "ZOMG ADMIRAL SNACKBAR IS BROKEN?!"

He's troubled me from the moment I read his card.

So far, the only thing I can think of is to go all-in right at his flagship with multiple short ranged hard hitters and provide him with too many targets to decisively win the knife-fight.

Kinda Zerg rush his fishy butt.

That...that's not a sentence I'm ever using again.

It seems like trying to beat him in the long range fight is playing to his strengths.

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

It's really not as great an idea as you may think.

All it takes is for the lead ship to get one yaw click and you're smack in the danger zone.

I'm a fairly capable player, and I've run up against the Ackbar Cr90 turret list at least twice. It's hard to beat. There is no easy strategy.

"Just get in front/behind" isn't particularly workable when there are 3-4 turret ships spitting AFMK2 level broadsides taking accuracies from the Home One. Charging in to close range doesn't work, since anything smaller than an ISD won't survive long enough to get a shot off.

Even using small ships to flank is insanely difficult since all of Ackbar's ships are spitting the majority of their firepower out to maximum range.

Squadrons seem to be the most effective, focusing down Ackbar himself to take away the fleet's range advantage, but even that is rendered difficult by the need for a carrier ship to move nearly into firing range, and the fact that they will almost certainly have fighter escort.

I've been waiting for this PITA of a list to hit popular play so I could watch Imperial admirals' forehead veins bulge. I look forward to the cries of "ZOMG ADMIRAL SNACKBAR IS BROKEN?!"

He's troubled me from the moment I read his card.

So far, the only thing I can think of is to go all-in right at his flagship with multiple short ranged hard hitters and provide him with too many targets to decisively win the knife-fight.

Kinda Zerg rush his fishy butt.

That...that's not a sentence I'm ever using again.

It seems like trying to beat him in the long range fight is playing to his strengths.

Herein lies my big problem with Ackbar.... nobody has any choice *but* to play to his strengths. Red dice fire no matter what range band you fall into, and only get stronger as range decreases, so if you're hoping to utilize the Empire's superior missile complements, you have to charge through multiple rounds of heavy fire that you will barely get to respond to.

Even flanking, unless you're spending four turns doing it, is going to fly you through the outermost range band where his ships will hit you with their strongest salvos while you return maybe 2 dice.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

Well I hands down won the squadron engagement that game, and they were effective at killing an assault frigate. my Demolisher killed 3 CR90's but my VSDs and ISD just caved under the long range fire power.

I didnt mean to come across as aggressive, I was actually intending to be enthusiastic because this is a new challenge for the empire and I like to see the game change and evolve. The ISD was moving at speed 2 with a pair of VSDs and his ships at speed 3 The intent was to try and cut off his path but the rebels turned sharply and had full broad side. I understand that the goal is to get into the front or rear arc but that is especially challenging when they have ship activation advantage.

It doesn't help that if he was in Home One, that big fat stogie-mobile is nothing but side arc. It's an interesting puzzle, and one that I currently think black dice'alanches and blue ion moons are probably appropriate against.

MC-80s do not react well to losing all their defenses. And, well, nothing really reacts well to having every available black die within a three mile radius dropped on its doorstep.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

I certainly feel its 134 Points of Well managed Bombers and Fighters

Don't let the Ships get in range. Ackbar wants to fly parallel to the board edge, not across the table... So don't play to his game at all, play to the Objectives, and anywhere there is an Objective/Ackbar Overlap, Smack Fighters in his Face...

I found that the home one itself wasnt a huge issue, but the fast moving AF's and CR90's are gaining so much fire power on such a fast platform.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

I certainly feel its 134 Points of Well managed Bombers and Fighters

Don't let the Ships get in range. Ackbar wants to fly parallel to the board edge, not across the table... So don't play to his game at all, play to the Objectives, and anywhere there is an Objective/Ackbar Overlap, Smack Fighters in his Face...

I don't doubt it.

That said... it would certainly chap my ass if the only reliable way to take down what is going to be a very common Rebel admiral came down to one very specific and narrow playstyle.

As for "Don't let the ships get in range" I genuinely wish everyone luck in trying to stay out of range of speed four corvettes while simultaneously being forced to try and engage their mothership with its GIGANTIC broadsides.

Playing to the objective would be a more generally workable strategy if the list couldn't cover the majority of the play area with murderous firing arcs. You also need an objective that you CAN play to. If you take initiative and they pick your red objective, there generally isn't much you can do about that. If they take initiative and hand you advanced gunnery/opening salvo, superior positions and contested outpost there isn't a lot you can do to play to the objective.

Only faced Ackbar once so far, and was extremely leery of those side arcs on Home One and the pair of MC30s. Admiral Screed definitely had to fudge some of his repair budget reports, but he DID survive the battle. I didn't have an ISD (because I DON'T fudge my budget reports) so I took a pair of Victory Is, Gladiator IIs, Dengar, Howlrunner, Interceptors and a TIE.

Ackbar's squadrons self-destructed (COUNTER 4 made my opponent's eyes about as big and round as Ackbar's). My Vic's went down one side, which just about slagged the lead Vic. Squadrons hit it on the nose and the Gladiators went after the MC30s (didn't go particularly well, ACMs helped but it's not as fair a fight as the points might suggest). We were playing Contested Outpost, so keeping my ships in the center, soaking fire, with Engineering dials almost every turn gave me a lot of extra VP. When Home One finally went boom, my surviving Vic and Gladiator grabbed the last turn's worth of points. My squadrons really ripped up the MC30s, which was a surprise to all including spectators.

Playing to the objective would be a more generally workable strategy if the list couldn't cover the majority of the play area with murderous firing arcs. You also need an objective that you CAN play to. If you take initiative and they pick your red objective, there generally isn't much you can do about that. If they take initiative and hand you advanced gunnery/opening salvo, superior positions and contested outpost there isn't a lot you can do to play to the objective.

Its not easy, no... But its stacking advantages that you need... Being second player makes them Move First, so you have the potential to engage first. And when you get to shoot first, you can drop a Corvette a Turn with decent firepower. They'll make you hurt for it, yes. Imperials, in particular, have the Hull Points to try to compensate for that...

You want Contested Outpost as a Second Player. That will make the Home One want to come across the table at you, if you keep it near your edge and your ships slow rolling waiting for them to approach.

Red Objectives, well, they're going to be the Rub... They used to be the Imperial Fallback, but now, now they're a double edged sword. Most Wanted with you picking something small and something that you want to kill of theirs, might be the best advantage there...

I'll find out tomorrow a fair bit, I guess... 6 hours of Non-Stop games to play.

Would the use of tractorbeams against the the ship to the rear of the Rebel conga line not isolate that one ship from the rest?

In that way you have a turn or two where you can engage that one ship, while his friends will struggle to slow down or come around to assist the "lone sheep"

It demands some timing in the activation order on your part VS your opponents.

But this could work.

Playing to the objective would be a more generally workable strategy if the list couldn't cover the majority of the play area with murderous firing arcs. You also need an objective that you CAN play to. If you take initiative and they pick your red objective, there generally isn't much you can do about that. If they take initiative and hand you advanced gunnery/opening salvo, superior positions and contested outpost there isn't a lot you can do to play to the objective.

Its not easy, no... But its stacking advantages that you need... Being second player makes them Move First, so you have the potential to engage first. And when you get to shoot first, you can drop a Corvette a Turn with decent firepower. They'll make you hurt for it, yes. Imperials, in particular, have the Hull Points to try to compensate for that...

You want Contested Outpost as a Second Player. That will make the Home One want to come across the table at you, if you keep it near your edge and your ships slow rolling waiting for them to approach.

Red Objectives, well, they're going to be the Rub... They used to be the Imperial Fallback, but now, now they're a double edged sword. Most Wanted with you picking something small and something that you want to kill of theirs, might be the best advantage there...

I'll find out tomorrow a fair bit, I guess... 6 hours of Non-Stop games to play.

Contested Outpost against Ackbar isn't going to play out that way. Any competent admiral will circle the outpost at max range and simply obliterate any ship that tries to claim it. What few victory tokens you might claim won't mean much next to the smoldering wreckage of the ships that claimed them.

You're correct in that going second *should* allow you to fire first, letting them move into range however.... Ackbar CR90 lists will have all but the most ship-intensive lists totally outmatched on activations, and so you will STILL be forced to move into range first.

If you're going squadron heavy, there's no chance at all that you'll be able to control position via activation order.

Last night, I watched the IFF guys play 3x VIC-IIs with Q7s and Demolisher, vs HomeOne Ackbar and a pair of Guppies...

The game at that point is very close, and very dependant on Dice rolls... Even an AFMK-II has the ability to seriously damage two Victory IIs with a single Salvo with Gunnery Teams, so its a matter of being where they're wanting to go, and causing a Trainwreck.

As it was at that point, Demolisher needed to be the Knife that Twists in the Wound, rather than the Opening Salvo. it is a Serious turnabout of Tactical thinking for the Imperial Side.

Contested Outpost against Ackbar isn't going to play out that way. Any competent admiral will circle the outpost at max range and simply obliterate any ship that tries to claim it. What few victory tokens you might claim won't mean much next to the smoldering wreckage of the ships that claimed them.

You're correct in that going second *should* allow you to fire first, letting them move into range however.... Ackbar CR90 lists will have all but the most ship-intensive lists totally outmatched on activations, and so you will STILL be forced to move into range first.

If you're going squadron heavy, there's no chance at all that you'll be able to control position via activation order.

All good Brainstorming... I do feel that you can place the outpost far enough back to force Ackbar to have to laterally shift across the table at you - at some point, a Circle means he has to point directly at your table edge, and that's where you pounce him...

I am really curious - and I'm thankful we can back-and-forth on this

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

It's really not as great an idea as you may think.

All it takes is for the lead ship to get one yaw click and you're smack in the danger zone.

I'm a fairly capable player, and I've run up against the Ackbar Cr90 turret list at least twice. It's hard to beat. There is no easy strategy.

"Just get in front/behind" isn't particularly workable when there are 3-4 turret ships spitting AFMK2 level broadsides taking accuracies from the Home One. Charging in to close range doesn't work, since anything smaller than an ISD won't survive long enough to get a shot off.

Even using small ships to flank is insanely difficult since all of Ackbar's ships are spitting the majority of their firepower out to maximum range.

Squadrons seem to be the most effective, focusing down Ackbar himself to take away the fleet's range advantage, but even that is rendered difficult by the need for a carrier ship to move nearly into firing range, and the fact that they will almost certainly have fighter escort.

I've been waiting for this PITA of a list to hit popular play so I could watch Imperial admirals' forehead veins bulge. I look forward to the cries of "ZOMG ADMIRAL SNACKBAR IS BROKEN?!"

He's troubled me from the moment I read his card.

So far, the only thing I can think of is to go all-in right at his flagship with multiple short ranged hard hitters and provide him with too many targets to decisively win the knife-fight.

Kinda Zerg rush his fishy butt.

That...that's not a sentence I'm ever using again.

It seems like trying to beat him in the long range fight is playing to his strengths.

Herein lies my big problem with Ackbar.... nobody has any choice *but* to play to his strengths. Red dice fire no matter what range band you fall into, and only get stronger as range decreases, so if you're hoping to utilize the Empire's superior missile complements, you have to charge through multiple rounds of heavy fire that you will barely get to respond to.

Even flanking, unless you're spending four turns doing it, is going to fly you through the outermost range band where his ships will hit you with their strongest salvos while you return maybe 2 dice.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

I certainly feel its 134 Points of Well managed Bombers and Fighters

Don't let the Ships get in range. Ackbar wants to fly parallel to the board edge, not across the table... So don't play to his game at all, play to the Objectives, and anywhere there is an Objective/Ackbar Overlap, Smack Fighters in his Face...

I don't doubt it.

That said... it would certainly chap my ass if the only reliable way to take down what is going to be a very common Rebel admiral came down to one very specific and narrow playstyle.

As for "Don't let the ships get in range" I genuinely wish everyone luck in trying to stay out of range of speed four corvettes while simultaneously being forced to try and engage their mothership with its GIGANTIC broadsides.

Playing to the objective would be a more generally workable strategy if the list couldn't cover the majority of the play area with murderous firing arcs. You also need an objective that you CAN play to. If you take initiative and they pick your red objective, there generally isn't much you can do about that. If they take initiative and hand you advanced gunnery/opening salvo, superior positions and contested outpost there isn't a lot you can do to play to the objective.

When in doubt, I ask Sun Tzu:

[07.21] Therefore, those skilled in the use of force avoid [the enemy's] high energy, and strike when energy is exhausted. This is the way to manage energy.

Depending on what you're facing, I'd have to say that you must keep in mind the idea of acceptable losses. Find where Ackbar's firepower is the heaviest and throw something expendable in its path, then move in your hard hitters when Admiral Fish-oil has spent his big guns. But move in fast. You have to take advantage of the window of opportunity and strike hard when the greatest threat has spent its activation on something expendable.

The term Blitzkrieg comes to mind.

Also, one must be mindful that presenting multiple undeniable threats to an enemy is better than presenting just one or two. Make him have to make a hard choice on what to spend his firepower on, make it so that no choice is a safe choice.

I'm finding well armed raiders to be good for both purposes. Cheap enough to expend, well armed enough to be a credible threat. Use them to set up your big guns for their push. Only a fool ignores them, but fool might shoot them first...and that's when you strike.

Contested Outpost against Ackbar isn't going to play out that way. Any competent admiral will circle the outpost at max range and simply obliterate any ship that tries to claim it. What few victory tokens you might claim won't mean much next to the smoldering wreckage of the ships that claimed them.

You're correct in that going second *should* allow you to fire first, letting them move into range however.... Ackbar CR90 lists will have all but the most ship-intensive lists totally outmatched on activations, and so you will STILL be forced to move into range first.

If you're going squadron heavy, there's no chance at all that you'll be able to control position via activation order.

All good Brainstorming... I do feel that you can place the outpost far enough back to force Ackbar to have to laterally shift across the table at you - at some point, a Circle means he has to point directly at your table edge, and that's where you pounce him...

I am really curious - and I'm thankful we can back-and-forth on this

I look forward to whatever people come up with after facing it a few times. As of now it's my least favorite nut to crack. There may be something to trying to force Ackbar to cross the table, but even then I feel like they'll just slow roll the flagship and send the horde of fast moving CR90s to tear you up from long range.

The problem is that most people are shoving the star destroyer down the throat of the side arcs. I see less and less of people attacking the front of the line e with a ISD. It is possible to do. . . Hmmmm a challenge.

It's really not as great an idea as you may think.

All it takes is for the lead ship to get one yaw click and you're smack in the danger zone.

I'm a fairly capable player, and I've run up against the Ackbar Cr90 turret list at least twice. It's hard to beat. There is no easy strategy.

"Just get in front/behind" isn't particularly workable when there are 3-4 turret ships spitting AFMK2 level broadsides taking accuracies from the Home One. Charging in to close range doesn't work, since anything smaller than an ISD won't survive long enough to get a shot off.

Even using small ships to flank is insanely difficult since all of Ackbar's ships are spitting the majority of their firepower out to maximum range.

Squadrons seem to be the most effective, focusing down Ackbar himself to take away the fleet's range advantage, but even that is rendered difficult by the need for a carrier ship to move nearly into firing range, and the fact that they will almost certainly have fighter escort.

I've been waiting for this PITA of a list to hit popular play so I could watch Imperial admirals' forehead veins bulge. I look forward to the cries of "ZOMG ADMIRAL SNACKBAR IS BROKEN?!"

He's troubled me from the moment I read his card.

So far, the only thing I can think of is to go all-in right at his flagship with multiple short ranged hard hitters and provide him with too many targets to decisively win the knife-fight.

Kinda Zerg rush his fishy butt.

That...that's not a sentence I'm ever using again.

It seems like trying to beat him in the long range fight is playing to his strengths.

Herein lies my big problem with Ackbar.... nobody has any choice *but* to play to his strengths. Red dice fire no matter what range band you fall into, and only get stronger as range decreases, so if you're hoping to utilize the Empire's superior missile complements, you have to charge through multiple rounds of heavy fire that you will barely get to respond to.

Even flanking, unless you're spending four turns doing it, is going to fly you through the outermost range band where his ships will hit you with their strongest salvos while you return maybe 2 dice.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

I'm sure there is an answer to this, I just don't know what it is, yet.

I certainly feel its 134 Points of Well managed Bombers and Fighters

Don't let the Ships get in range. Ackbar wants to fly parallel to the board edge, not across the table... So don't play to his game at all, play to the Objectives, and anywhere there is an Objective/Ackbar Overlap, Smack Fighters in his Face...

I don't doubt it.

That said... it would certainly chap my ass if the only reliable way to take down what is going to be a very common Rebel admiral came down to one very specific and narrow playstyle.

As for "Don't let the ships get in range" I genuinely wish everyone luck in trying to stay out of range of speed four corvettes while simultaneously being forced to try and engage their mothership with its GIGANTIC broadsides.

Playing to the objective would be a more generally workable strategy if the list couldn't cover the majority of the play area with murderous firing arcs. You also need an objective that you CAN play to. If you take initiative and they pick your red objective, there generally isn't much you can do about that. If they take initiative and hand you advanced gunnery/opening salvo, superior positions and contested outpost there isn't a lot you can do to play to the objective.

When in doubt, I ask Sun Tzu:

[07.21] Therefore, those skilled in the use of force avoid [the enemy's] high energy, and strike when energy is exhausted. This is the way to manage energy.

Depending on what you're facing, I'd have to say that you must keep in mind the idea of acceptable losses. Find where Ackbar's firepower is the heaviest and throw something expendable in its path, then move in your hard hitters when Admiral Fish-oil has spent his big guns. But move in fast. You have to take advantage of the window of opportunity and strike hard when the greatest threat has spent its activation on something expendable.

The term Blitzkrieg comes to mind.

Also, one must be mindful that presenting multiple undeniable threats to an enemy is better than presenting just one or two. Make him have to make a hard choice on what to spend his firepower on, make it so that no choice is a safe choice.

I'm finding well armed raiders to be good for both purposes. Cheap enough to expend, well armed enough to be a credible threat.

And here I'm usually the guy busting out the Art of War.

That said, all of your strategies *sound* perfectly workable, but on the table I've had mixed to poor results.

Blitzkrieg tactics find themselves toothless once they get to close range, badly damaged ships facing full-health ships whose firepower has only increased as they've gotten closer.

Raiders melt against the Home One because they can't brace, and a Raider that isn't bracing is a dead Raider.

Presenting multiple targets only works if your opponent isn't converging fields of fire (which they always are with Ackbar'd corvettes. If they ARE converging fields of fire you're serving your ships up like a buffet.

The real problem with this list is that the "real" threat is Ackbar, because he makes all the "little" threats INTO the "real" threat. Destroying the 'vettes is both challenging and still leaves you with a big ol squid to deal with, focusing on the squid leaves you getting picked apart by 'vettes, and at no point does careful maneuvering do much for you since the only ship that can outmaneuver the CR90 is the Raider, which we've already established is going to die without being able to use brace.

Honestly, I think Gladiators may be the answer here. Glads with Engine Techs in an Ozzel list can pull some insane maneuvers. Maybe just insane enough to quickly box Admiral Snackbar to death...

Compounding the problem is that the MC30 and Assault Frigate both have access to Gunnery Teams. Meaning the possible shortcoming of "Well he can only fire out of that one buffed arc once unless advanced gunnery" is not a thing. An Ackbar list can swarm assault frigate gunnery teams and still be pretty devastating. If they're the two-AA dice variant it means they can afford to split their fire between ships and squadrons and shred them gradually over a couple of turns.

"We" on the Empire side don't have a lot of defensive modifiers either. So against that torrent of firepower our main ships, the VSD and the GSD, cannot do anything when accuracy spots their brace. With Home One in the picture that's even more likely to happen... in fact, it will make attack rolls worse to face since the red die doesn't have to have a result on it when modified.

Still, perhaps by focusing on the limitations of typical Ackbar assault frigate lists, a weakness can be identified.

+AF can only go so high: If the AF is taking enhanced armament to abuse ackbar that's seven dice when it fires, eight if it has concentrate fire. But it has to rely on Home One to get the accuracy to affect the defense tokens of the target. If there's no Home One, or Ackbar is out of range (or dead) the shots get less precise. Eight Dice isn't pretty but the ISDs are also throwing eight, without taking anything fun to buff it like Slaved turrets, any of the fancy turbolasers, or even taking concentrate fire.

+Rebel hulls are weaker: Matching up the AF/MC80 to VSD/ISD, the VSDs have 2 more hull points and the ISDs have three points on the ISD. True, the Rebels make up for it with slightly better shield counts, but that doesn't matter for weapons like, say, the Assault Proton Torpedoes. Speaking of which..

+We have Screed: Overload Pulse, Assault Proton Torpedoes, NK-7s, Assault concussion Missiles... we have access to a few deadly crit-trigger cards that we can reliably activate with Screed. Screed isn't just there to pump up GSD damage, he can make sure those effects always kick. The crits in this game are far worse than the ones in X-Wing... the only way it could get better is if we have a means to select that crit. I'd like to try using a Raider armed with APTs with Screed at the helm to try delivering unhappy criticals on target ships, and either stay out of the side arcs or put myself there to force the enemy to waste a shot on the Raider.

+We have Rhymer: Properly equipped his fighter ball can almost be a ship in itself, contributing a large number of fire that is immune to the capital firepower Ackbar is enhancing. And if the Ackbar list is taking a respectable number of fighters for defense, chances are he's reducing his capital strike power in some other way to take advantage of. Plus with fighter supremacy we can surround Rhymer with some pretty powerful squadrons that protect him while benefiting from his power (like IG-88, Fett, Fel, and Vader).

+We have Screed: Overload Pulse, Assault Proton Torpedoes, NK-7s, Assault concussion Missiles... we have access to a few deadly crit-trigger cards that we can reliably activate with Screed. Screed isn't just there to pump up GSD damage, he can make sure those effects always kick. The crits in this game are far worse than the ones in X-Wing... the only way it could get better is if we have a means to select that crit. I'd like to try using a Raider armed with APTs with Screed at the helm to try delivering unhappy criticals on target ships, and either stay out of the side arcs or put myself there to force the enemy to waste a shot on the Raider.

+We have Rhymer: Properly equipped his fighter ball can almost be a ship in itself, contributing a large number of fire that is immune to the capital firepower Ackbar is enhancing. And if the Ackbar list is taking a respectable number of fighters for defense, chances are he's reducing his capital strike power in some other way to take advantage of. Plus with fighter supremacy we can surround Rhymer with some pretty powerful squadrons that protect him while benefiting from his power (like IG-88, Fett, Fel, and Vader).

These two points are spot on, which is part of my problem with Ackbar...

The best Imperial answers to him are... the same **** combos that were the best Imperial answers to everything else for the entirety of Wave One. How disappointing.